“I’m fine.” Qin Huaiyuan took the handkerchief handed by his attendant and wiped the blood on his body with a frown. Although Jiang Luo stood in front of him, due to the angle, most of the blood was sprayed on Qin Huaiyuan’s body.

Before he could ask a question, roars sounded from the bushes and rapidly it was getting close. The ground was shaken almost to the point of shaking.

“Your Highness, it should be the bear’s companion!” The guard stood in front of Qin Huaiyuan and listened carefully.

Everyone’s nerves that had been relaxed just now tensed up again.

The speed of the creature was very fast, and suddenly appeared the figures from the woods. They were actually two black bears, and both looked even stronger than the previous black bear.

“Roar!!!” The two bears rushed over when they smelled the blood, but when they saw it was actually the corpse of their companion, they roared furiously on the spot.

Qin Huaiyuan waited with his sword in hand, and the guards raised their swords to confront the black bears.

It’s just that these two bears definitely didn’t have the patience of the previous one. Believing in their strong bodies and sharp teeth, they rushed towards Qin Huaiyuan.

The guards kept falling to the ground, and their swords only managed to leave shallow scars on the black bears.

Qin Huaiyuan was not strong enough, not to mention that there was a woman beside him that was holding him back.

Every time Qin Huaiyuan found the black bear’s weakness and wanted to attack, Jiang Luo would always stop him and prevent him from doing any damage. Qin Huaiyuan had lost his strength and agility after going back and forth like that a few times.

Jiang Luo was also in a very anxious mood. She thought that after finishing the black bear and saving Qin Huaiyuan, she will definitely get the prince’s heart.

She never thought that there would be another two bears.

There were not many points left for her, and Jiang Luo hesitated to exchange items with the system while dodging the black bear’s attack.

The black bears became more courageous as they fought more and more. The wound made them manic, and they slapped the ground vigorously, shaking the pieces of gravel away.

Qin Huaiyuan was hit in the chest by the black bear, causing him to spit out blood.

“Careful!”

When the situation was turning worst, there was a sudden sound of a galloping horse piercing through the air. Jiang Changning and Qin Huaisu arrived in time.

Qin Huaisu flew forward, kicked one of the black bears back a few steps, and jumped in front of the black bear with his long sword in his hand, ready for an attack. A white light flashed, and the black bear fell slowly, with its head falling to the ground, detached from its body.

The other largest black bear had already rushed in front of Qin Huaiyuan.

Jiang Changning who was still sitting on the horse’s back, leaning over to pick up Qin Huaisu’s longbow hanging on the side of the horse. Qin Huaisu’s bow was hard and a bit heavier than the usual arrow. She steadied herself while trying to balance on top of the horse. She leaned her body back a bit and relied fully on her great flexibility to shoot the arrow out, hitting the black bear’s eye.

Its eye was injured, the black bear lost its sight and so did his aim. The soldiers quickly surrounded the blind bear and killed it.

“Is the crown prince alright?” Qin Huaisu arrived at Qin Huaiyuan’s side, with genuine concern in his eyes.

Prince Qin Huaiyuan let out a long breath. Although there were a lot of bloodstains from the black bears splattered on the front of his clothes, he only suffered some minor injuries after some fighting: “I’m okay.”

Qin Huaiyuan stood up straight with the help of his guards and looked at the horse’s back. He looked at the girl who just shot the arrow with appreciation.

Qin Huaisu helped Jiang Changning down. Thinking of when the girl successfully aimed and shot the black bear in the eye at a critical moment just now, really surprised him.

“This girl, Jiang Changning, greets the crown prince.”

“The daughter raised by the Hou mansion is truly extraordinary, but I didn’t know that Miss Jiang is also good with arrows.” The prince praised.

The news regarding the fake and real daughters of the Hou Mansion were spreading like wildfire in the capital, and the prince naturally also heard of it. It was just that he didn’t expect the person at the center of the gossip to have such magnanimity and didn’t have the cowardice of a boudoir at all. Although she was not the real flesh and blood of the old marquis, she was as bold as the old marquis.

“Thank you Your Highness for your appreciation. This girl’s skills are not that good, so she acted hastily when she saw the situation.” When she was young, she and her brother learned archery from their father, thankfully it came in handy now.

Jiang Luo felt furious at the side, Jiang Changning just snatched all the credit that she worked hard for!

She said casually, “Your Highness, what should we do with this black bear?” She pointed to the one on the ground that she had just killed.

It would be better if she didn’t make a sound, but now everyone finally came to their senses and felt that it was unbelievable that the huge and ferocious black bear just stood still in front of her and even let her slaughter it easily. They began to feel suspicious.

A guard stepped forward to check and saw that the black bear’s abdomen was slightly swollen and cut it open, it turned out to be a pregnant female bear.

Everyone on the field had a shocked look on their face. It turns out that the two black bears were attracted by this female bear.

After a lot of chaos, the prince ended up with only a slight injury. The rest of the group brought back the three black bears, considered as their result for the hunt that day.

The queen was worried about the prince’s injury and was eager to let him return to the palace to recuperate. The hunt started with a grand momentum but then ended hastily.

Jiang Changning made an honourable deed in protecting the crown prince, and the emperor was grateful for her courage and skills even though she was just a family’s young daughter.

Jiang Changning was made a county lord, and given the title “An Ning” (calm/peace), and the atmosphere was joyful for a while.

Although she was no longer the daughter of the Hou Mansion now, the An Ning County Lord bestowed by the emperor is no less than the title of a daughter of the Hou Manor of Zhenbei. This personal title is higher than her title given under the Hou Mansion.

When Shen Yao heard about this, she had already been sent home by Shen Dong’s people and was locked up in the ancestral hall to copy the Buddhist scriptures given by the empress.

General Shen was furious when he heard that Shen Yao had offended the empress during the hunting festival. He even reprimanded Shen Dong as an elder brother for not disciplining Shen Yao enough, after this, he must teach her to be a proper lady.

She had always held a grudge against Jiang Changning, but when she suddenly heard that Jiang Changning was bestowed the title of a County Lord, Shen Yao abruptly broke the writing brush in her hand, crashing down all the objects on the table, and smashed the inkstone on the ground, almost staining the empress-gifted Buddhist scriptures.

In just a few days, the pheasant she kept gossiping about suddenly leapt from a branch and turned into a real phoenix.

Although Jiang Luo also did something on the day of the hunt, rumors were circulating among the crowd that she used a demon technique to slaughter the black bear. Everyone said that the bear wasn’t moving when she killed it because it lost its soul under the control of the demon technique.

This matter intensified not only due to the loose mouth of the people on the back, but the fact that the emperor only rewarded Jiang Changning alone also made people feel that the matter was basically confirmed.

Nobody said anything, but it was clear as the day that everyone had been avoiding Jiang Luo. Meanwhile, the girl in the rumors almost lost herself to the jealousy in her heart.

It took her so much planning, but everything was all for naught. Jiang Luo hated and cursed Jiang Changning even more.

It has reached the point of insanity.

After the hunt was over, groups of horse-drawn carriages drove from Jiuyong Mountain to the city.

In the carriage, Jiang Changbai looked at Jiang Changning and Jiang Luo with lingering fear and concern, and he couldn’t help but reprimand: “The mountain is dangerous, and a lot of wild beasts lingering everywhere. Ordinary people know how to avoid it but both of you insisted on entering? And also three black bears?”

“They managed to injure countless people, even the royal guards were killed or injured. But you dare to get close?! Although you were lucky enough to save His Royal Highness this time and get a reward, if something bad happened…” Jiang Changbo paused, and swallowed the following words before continuing: “You tell me, how will this elder brother face mother?” Although he reprimanded them, he couldn’t hide his care and worry.

Jiang Changning understood his elder brother’s intentions and comforted him: “Brother, I know I was wrong, this time I did not think carefully. But since I saw the prince in danger, I must not remain indifferent and just seek to protect myself. I believe that if my brother were in my shoes, he would make such a choice, otherwise, how would the emperor view our Hou Mansion.”

Even with that, Jiang Changbai was still angry.

Jiang Luo didn’t say a word since they got in the carriage and just ignored Jiang Changbai’s concern, which made Jiang Changbai feel a little chilled.

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